You're always going to survive the pain of loss. I can live with that confidence inside of me.

When I did 'Dancing With the Stars,' everyone in Hollywood was saying I had too much muscle.

Every athlete acquires routines as a way to help control nerves.

In front of the world, all of a sudden I'm a great athlete and I'm put into an environment with 25 other women and I'm expected to go to team meals, team functions.

My father was never around. But I glorified my father, and I was always daddy's little girl. He was my first soccer coach.

London 2012 is all about winning a medal. Not just any medal, the gold medal.

I don't just want to focus on soccer, soccer, soccer. You're going to look back 20 years from now and of course you're going to remember the games. But I'm going to remember seeing my family in the stands.

My father showed me so much love. He showed my brother so much love. He just, he had a rough life. You know, he grew up in a boys home in the Bronx. He didn't really know his own family. So I couldn't hold it against him that he didn't know how to parent. He didn't know how to be the perfect husband. But he loved as much as he could.

I've had marriage proposals, invitations to military balls and even a few prom offers from 18-year-old boys.

I think the concept of seeking fame and fortune in women's football in the States is a bit idyllic.

No one wants to lose, period. It should hurt, it should sting, and you don't want to feel that feeling again.

I burn so many calories when I work out that I don't really count calories or necessarily try and stay away from anything.

I still don't buy the idea that I'm a 'sex symbol.'

I've learned that winning isn't everything, and it's more about the journey. But at the end of the day, I just want to stand on the podium with the gold medal.

My father showed me so much love. He showed my brother so much love.

With each year that's gone by, and as I grow up and get older, I've become more mature, of course, but you have a sense of who you are, and you find confidence in that.

I think it's my personality to overcome things, learn from them and become stronger, both personally and professionally.

Being responsible and taking care of your body is truly how you make your pay cheque, how you excel and succeed in your lifelong goals, so for me it's just an everyday lifestyle.

In truth, 2007 was the hardest year of my life. I lost my best friend. I lost my father.

I need a life outside of soccer. So I very much welcome, you know, new love interests and dating and friends and family.

I'm a nerd at heart.

I wear my dad's cross. It's very important to me. I hang it in my locker before each game.

A lot of people think I'm naturally confident. I am not naturally confident!

It took putting one foot in front of the other every single day to get through it to the point where I made it back on the team and won a gold medal in 2008.